Protecting Domestic Violence Victims

Tom sponsors a bill (A1738) to create a database of denied firearms purchases and notify domestic violence victims when their abuser attempts to buy firearms.

Whistleblowers Protection for Sexual Harassment Complaints

Tom sponsors a bill (A1807) that provides whistleblower protections to employees that report violations of anti-discrimination laws, including sexual harassment. Current laws do not clearly provide this protection (in committee).

Women’s Reproductive Rights

Tom cosponsored the “Reproductive Health Act” that aligns New York’s laws on abortion with the current federal law protections that were dictated by the United States Supreme Court in the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade. The new law transfers regulation of abortion from the penal law to the public health law and recognizes abortion as a lawful medical procedure. Previous law required that an abortion after 12 weeks had to be performed in a hospital and applied additional restrictions after 20 weeks. This new law authorizes licensed health care practitioners to perform the procedure: (1) within 24 weeks of pregnancy; (2) thereafter when there is no fetal viability or to protect a woman’s life or health. Tom was a co-sponsor of the bill when first introduced in 2018 (A1748) as well as when it passed in 2019 (A21)

The Big Boss Bill

Tom cosponsored the “Big Boss” bill (A584) which was recently enacted to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on the employees’ or dependent’s reproductive health decisions.

Equal Pay

Tom supported and voted for legislation to ensure that women are not discriminated against because of their gender and receive equal pay for equal work. It prohibits wage differentials based on protected class status.

Insurance Coverage for Fertility & Invitro

In 2019, Tom supported and voted for including in the budget language to require insurance companies to provide coverage for medically necessary fertility preservation and in-vitro fertilization. New Yorkers who have dreamed of a family shouldn’t have those dreams dashed because a health insurer decided it costs too much. Infertility is a medical condition that should be covered like any other condition.

Domestic Violence

In the 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions, recognizing that abusers often control the victim’s finances and access to a support network, several new laws protect domestic violence victims. Tom supported and voted for laws in 2019 that ban an individual convicted of a domestic violence crime from possessing a firearm; gives judges greater discretion in sentencing defendants who are domestic violence victims when their abuse was a significant contributing factor in their offense; allows victims to cancel their telephone/ cable contracts without penalties or cancellation fees; requires hospitals to notify victims of available services. Tom supported and voted for several pieces of legislation that helped victims’ distance themselves from their abusers including legislation to allow victims to cancel their lease without penalties or cancellation fees and allow victims to vote by special mail ballot.